Saakashvili attempts a Napoleon in Odessa

Former President to the Republic of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili (AFP Photo / Leigh Vogel) / AFP

Petro Poroshenko’s decision to appoint Georgia’s disgraced former President as Governor of the Odessa region just might be his most bizarre move yet. Mikhail Saakashvili is a wanted criminal suspect in his homeland.

When the pro-Euromaidan
activist Maxim Eristavi tweeted on Friday that Mikhail
Saakashvili was to become Odessa’s new Governor, the
Twittersphere didn’t seem to know whether shock or amusement was
the most appropriate reaction. However, on closer inspection, the
move isn’t such a surprise after all. There are myriad reasons
why Saakhasvili would find Odessa’s top job attractive and
equally as many why Poroshenko is most likely delighted to send
him there.

It’s common knowledge that Ukraine is a tragically divided land,
but Odessa is split like no other city in the country. 150 years
ago, Odessa was one of Europe’s most vibrant destinations, at a
time when it was a multi-ethnic smorgasbord of Russians, Jews,
Greeks, Italians and Albanians. In fact, it even had two French
governors – Duc De Richelieu and Count Andrault De Langeron. So
famed was Odessa that in 1869, the legendary American writer,
Mark Twain, predicted that it would become “one of
the great cities of the old world.”

Russia’s national poet Alexander Pushkin wrote of the Black Sea
Pearl: “the air is filled with all Europe, French is spoken
and there are European papers and magazines to read.” By
1897, 37% percent of the city’s population was Jewish. Post World
War II, the Russian (largely to Moscow and Leningrad) and Jewish
(mainly to Israel and the USA) elite moved out and the Soviets
moved in Ukrainian villagers to replace them.

Its best days behind it

The glory days have long since passed. Riddled with corruption,
in the 21st century, Odessa is an extremely melancholic and
economically moribund city better known for mafia activity and
sex tourism (Odessa Dreams by the Guardian’s Shaun Walker is a
useful read on the latter subject), than high culture. Despite its rich
history, and striking Italianate architecture, any right-thinking
visitor would find the place rather mournful.

During Ukraine’s civil war, Odessa – which is primarily Russian
speaking but geographically close to western Ukraine – has
threatened to boil over on numerous occasions. Last year, at
least 32 anti-government protestors were murdered when the
municipal trade union building was set ablaze. Nevertheless, an
uneasy peace has largely held.

Saakashvili’s arrival in Odessa sees Poroshenko kill two birds
with one stone. The Georgian’s presence in Kiev – one assumes at
the behest of the regime’s American sponsors – probably wasn’t
entirely to the Chocolate King’s taste. Additionally, as
Ukraine’s oligarchs intensify their scramble over what’s left of
the economy, Poroshenko doubtlessly resented the fact that
Odessa’s previous governor, Igor Palitsa, was seen as loyal to
his political and business rival, Igor Kolomoysky.

The Georgian despot

Nevertheless, this gamble is going to backfire badly for
Ukraine’s President. Saakashvili ran Georgia like a personal
fiefdom. This won’t be possible in Odessa. Firstly, the local
legislature is not a rubber stamp body with a 4/5th’s majority as
he enjoyed in Tblisi. Another Saakhasvili technique in Georgia
was to raid, and eventually take-over, opposition TV stations.
Again, these tactics simply won’t pass muster in the Black Sea
region. Ukraine’s national TV networks are already owned by
Poroshenko and his supporters, anyway.

As a Georgian, Saakashvili will be well aware of Odessa’s
importance to the Black Sea’s illicit trade triangle, which
centres on the ports of Batumi/Poti (Georgia), Illichovsk/Odessa
and Varna/Constanta (Bulgaria/Romania). The Odessa route for
EU-destined contraband (via Transnistria and Moldova) is more
direct and prized than the southern Varna alternative. It’s
difficult to imagine how Saakashvili, as an outsider, could stare
down the Odessa mafia and succeed in reforming the ridiculously
corrupt ports in the region.

Speaking of graft, Saakashvili is currently a fugitive from
justice in his homeland. Tblisi’s authorities accuse him of
ordering brutal attacks on opposition protestors, illegally
raiding the Imedi TV offices and seizing property belonging to a
businessman, Badri Patarkatsishvili. In addition, prosecutors
claim the ex-President spent $450,000 of public funds on botox
injections and hair removal for himself and his family.

Until recently, the one-time protege of American neocon John
McCain, was hiding out in New York. Earlier this year, he turned
up in post-coup Ukraine with all the appearance of an actor
searching for a good script. At least, he now has a meaty role to
get his teeth into.

However, his toxic legacy in Tblisi doesn’t inspire confidence.
Following the 2003 ‘Rose Revolution,’ Saakhasvili promised to
reform Georgia and triumphantly lead it into both the EU and
NATO. He achieved neither aim. Instead, he fronted an
increasingly authoritarian regime until finally being ousted in
2013 by a broad opposition coalition, headed by billionaire
Bidzina Ivanishvili. Two years earlier, he had attempted to
deprive his rival of Georgian citizenship in a cynical attempt to
hold onto power.

In 2008, Saakashvili, for reasons that have never made much
sense, launched a catastrophic war against the breakaway province
of South Ossetia. Eventually Russian “peace-enforcement” troops
crushed his forces. The residual embarrassment, coupled with
economic stagnation, made his name mud with most Georgians, who
eventually tired of his eccentric, autocratic governance.

In Ukraine, he is attempting an unlikely political comeback. With
the exception of Napoleon, who the ever-confident Saakashvili
possibly equates himself to, second revolutions have been rare
for European leaders. Saakashvili turned Georgia into a basket
case, leaving a 16% unemployment rate behind him. Odessa is
already an unholy mess economically. Will Saakashvili meet his
Waterloo in the Ukrainian province? The smart money says
“yes.”

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.